Nigeria’s federal ministry of health says the death toll from the latest outbreak of meningitis has passed the 300 mark.
So far an outbreak has been reported in 16 states mostly in the northern part of Nigeria.
CGTN’s Kelechi Emekalam has more.
The epidemic has affected mostly children aged five to 14 across several states in Nigeria since mid-December, according to the country’s ministry of health.
Boade Akinola, a health ministry spokeswoman, said on Saturday that more than 2,500 people were infected with cerebrospinal meningitis in 16 of 36 states across Nigeria.
Meningitis is an acute inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord caused by an infection with microorganisms. It has a high mortality rate if untreated.
Nigeria’s worst outbreak of meningitis took place in 1996, when almost 12,000 people died from the disease, according to health ministry statistics.
